AWADmail Issue 650

A Weekly Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Tidbits about Words and Language

Sponsor's Message:
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When semi-trucks (articulated lorries) were first introduced into the
UK they were often referred to as juggernauts as a reference to their
greater size compared with earlier fixed-cab lorries. As they have become
more ubiquitous in recent years, this usage seems to have diminished.

By both of your definitions, juggernaut can be used to describe the
military and the military experience. As a sculptor with three combat
tours in the infantry I searched for years to find an image that captured
the essence of my experience and "juggernaut" could not have been more
perfect (see the sculpture). The national objective should be to keep
these juggernauts from ever starting to roll -- we know how much damage
they can do once they get going.

Love the compositional balance and symmetry of it all, particularly the
birds 'wing/hands' daintily holding their respective cups of coffee, plus the
vivid color-and-shape echoing of the hens' colorful features in the precisely
arranged crescent cookies and wedges of cherry pie on each of their plates.

For me, the piece-de-resistance has to be the subtle stitched white
embroidered trim running along the apron edges of the two foreground chatty
chickens, reading respectively, "Pick A Little" and "Talk A Little", a clever
'grace note' to perfectly capture this moment of apparent conversational
bliss... or in this case, 'fowl language'. (groan)

Alex McCrae, Van Nuys, California

From: Paul Schierenbeck (paulschierenbeck gmail.com)
Subject: klatsch

This word brought back wonderful memories of my mother's "coffee klatsch"
with her friends when I was a child. About once a month the group would
get together at someone's house (hosting duties rotated) and share coffee,
stollen, or coffee cake, and probably gossip. I'd be surprised if no one
ever offered Bloody Marys.

It was a mystery to me as a little boy just what these ladies were doing,
but it sounded exotic and fun. And the "old-fashioned" names of the members
came immediately to mind: Ruth (my Mom), Arlene, Lorraine, Ione, and so on.

Paul Schierenbeck, Cambridge, Massachusetts

From: Claus Cartellieri (cartellieri t-online.de)
Subject: klatsch

Being German I would like to add that "klatsch" may also have the meaning
of rumour, implying negative information about persons or objects.

The word oneiric, though possibly not its meaning, has been known to geeks
worldwide since 2011, when version 11.10 of the Ubuntu operating system
was released. All
Ubuntu releases are codenamed in the form "(adjective) <animal>"; both
words start with the same letter, which progresses through the alphabet
with each release. Thus 11.10 was Oneiric Ocelot and came between Natty
Narwhal and Precise Pangolin. The current release, Utopic Unicorn, is
unusual in being named after a mythical rather than zoological beast.

First came across this root in Mammalogy class at Cornell University in '50.
Among various modes of locomotion, climbing mammals (e.g., grey squirrels)
are termed scansorial.

Evan Hazard, Bemidji, Minnesota

From: Aurita P. Puga (beterana2002 yahoo.es)
Subject: Congrats

Congratulations for the beautiful art illustrating the words this week. And
Thank you for the daily inspirational messages. We appreciate both the
vocabulary and the quotations at the end of the pages. Thanks again and
thanks to those who sponsor your newsletter making it possible for all of us.

Aurita P. Puga, Panama City, Panama

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The English language is rather like a monster accordion, stretchable at the
whim of the editor, compressible ad lib. -Robert Burchfield, lexicographer
(1923-2004)